by Holly Hart
“Always,” he grins. “Shoot.”
“I know this isn’t supposed to be how it happens, but I – I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else–”
“That’s good to hear…”
I frown at him, and he presses his hand over his mouth, zipping it tight. “I’m serious. You made me happier than I’ve been since I was a kid, since before all of this started. So I want to know something. Will you–” I choke, then power forward on a surge of energy that wells up from out of nowhere.
“Will you marry me?”
Harlan’s eyes flare with shock. He looks at me, stunned. His mouth opens and shuts – a bit like a goldfish. But the sexiest goldfish I’ve ever seen…
But for all that slippery sexiness, Harlan is still stunned into silence. It might well be the first time in his life he hasn’t been able to reach for an easy joke.
And suddenly, I’m at a disadvantage. I don’t know where that request came from. I’ve known Harlan for what, six weeks? This is just lust, not love – surely.
No.
My jaw sets with determination, because I know the truth. I know myself. Whatever Harlan’s response, I know I wasn’t wrong to ask. He changed my life. He sacrificed for me when no one else would, and when he didn’t have to. So whatever his decision, even if it breaks me, I’ll understand.
Even so – my anxious brain stammers and stutters to fill the empty silence. “Not now, I mean,” I say nervously.
“But some time. Someday. It’s just… I don’t want to spend my life searching for any other man. I found him. I love you, Harlan, and nothing’s ever going to change that.”
Harlan takes a pace towards me, holds one finger up and presses it against my lips. I flinch, anticipating the only word I can imagine him saying: no.
But he doesn’t.
“This –” he says, turning his head to one side curiously, “Isn’t supposed to be how it works. I’m supposed to ask you, not the other way around …”
My eyes fix on his. I don’t see anything other than those glittering, caring, gray orbs. I try to predict what he’s going to say – how he’s going to let me down, but it’s impossible. He’s a sphinx.
“Just tell me,” I say, unable to conceal the stress cracking my voice. “Put me out of my misery, already.”
Harlan leans towards me, his forehead wrinkling. “You think it’s going to be that bad,” he winks. “Marrying me?”
This time it’s my eyes’ turn to flare with shock. Even when I proposed to Harlan, part of me – most of me – didn’t expect him to say yes. So now, I’m shocked into silence.
“That’s a yes,” he growls, removing his finger from my lips and replacing it with his own. He kisses me again, again not caring about the startled looks from the assorted diners behind us. “I’m just annoyed I didn’t get to ask you first…”
So that’s it.
My feet fill with an unbelievable lightness, my stomach is filled with butterflies. I don’t care what happens to me now. I don’t know what lies in my future. I don’t know if I’ll go back to my job, or just spend the next decade traveling the world with Harlan and Poppy. Most of all, I couldn’t care less if the medical board finds out I had a relationship with a patient.
I’ll sign whatever disclaimer I need to sign, because I’m not Harlan’s therapist anymore.
I’m his fiancée.
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